Wood burner

[Notmyyearthisyear]

I know that they are not the best thing for the environment but I’m getting increasingly worried about keeping the house warm enough on a single income.
Has anyone had a wood burner recently installed? Can you share any thoughts/ recommendations?
TIA!

[Wnikat]

Hopefully they will ban them soon because of the health issues it will cause the rest of us if so many people are having them installed

[beautifullymad]

We had one fitted before Christmas. I'd always had them and missed it in our more recent house. I got them to slightly over specify as I know if you need to heat a house, not just a room, they must be generous.
I had to battle to get the company to give me a bigger log burner!

You can burn through wood at a alarming pace. My tip is to get the fire hot with three logs, then add some coal.

This continues to give out heat for many hours. A bag of coal lasts us a month this way.

Our heating went off in late February. We have easily heated the entire house using the wood burner stove.

[Worldgonecrazy]

We have three, all Contura. It’s a slightly more expensive brand but are very efficient, not very messy, and look amazing. We have to buy our wood but £400 of dry wood has kept us going since last September and we still have a large bag and a half left.

If you are using it for heat I would recommend paying a little more for heat storage stones and soapstone cladding, it keeps ours warm all night.

Regardless of cost of the stove, installation seems to be around £2k, so you need to factor that in.

[glasslightly]

Just costed this up as we already have a wood burner, but we don't have our own supply of wood. Cost is about £3.11 in London for a fire that lasts 4-6 hours.

[Wnikat]

amp.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/16/home-wood-burning-biggest-cause-particle-pollution-fires

[Rosser]

@Pizzadreams

This is so funny now. Indeed I am bitter and twisted. I just wish I was rich enough to have a log burner

Honestly, my insta comments, which are judgey are totally based on my experience with a lot of very showy middle class friends. Who all have log burners and are very proud of them.

Honestly, my comments about having log burners (especially in modern houses in built up areas) are based on lots of reading I’ve done. If you can show me a decent sized, peer reviewed study which unequivocally states that they are 100% not bad for your health then please post me a link. In the mean time, I’d rather be judgey and bitter and not take the risk. I watched my Dad die from COPD, he wasn’t a smoker but he worked on building sites around all sorts of horrible dusts and smoke and that makes me super conscious of anything risks I take. To me a log burner feels like a risk.

[Pizzadreams]

@rosser

I’m not sure why I need to show you research? You can look at rhe defra findings and the clean air strategy in relation to the new stoves yourself, and you can also do a comparison to other energy environmental impacts Ie electricity generation.

Then maybe when you’re done come back in a few days and say you got it wrong.

[Thesunrising]

Legally compliant wood burners are expensive to install and may not be a cost effective option in the long run. As previous posters have highlighted, there are associated health risks that cannot be understated. . Does your local Council run a energy advice service? They may have information about discounts on other heating alternatives along with discounts you may be entitled to? Similarly they might have info on insulation schemes you might be able to access to reduce your energy bill without recourse to wood burning?

[Mossstitch]

I had mine put in 10 years ago when doing up an old terrace I'd bought (about 2k altogether), mainly because I'd had a power cut in the past and it was miserable😩 so I've covered every eventuality, electric underfloor, gas living flame fire, gas central heating, gas hob, electric oven and multifuel defra approved logburner........ I'm not taking any chances, I hate being cold🤷

[IDespairOfTheHumanRace]

Some of us have no option but to have a logburner - mine is the only source of heating in my very isolated and rural cottage, dating from the late Tudor period. Ground or air source heat pumps are not suitable for a property like this, even if I could afford the installation costs, which I can't. Ditto LPG or oil based heating and, because my roof is thatched, solar panels are out of the equation too. What choice do I have? Whether they are ultimately banned or not, I have no intention of parting with mine, since the fuel source is free, to me, for a little bit of effort, harvesting it from my own land

[Rosser]

@Pizzadreams I presume you’re either a log burner installer or one of the showy insta folk I have insulted? I don’t understand why you’d get so het up defending an inanimate object otherwise.

I don’t deny that log burners are better than they were BUT defra itself stresses the need to think before you burn and if it’s a secondary heating source to consider the other options. Surely that says all you need to know!

[purplesequins]

tbh if you have a couple of grand to invest - put it in insulation & new windows.

[Pizzadreams]

@rosser, then once again you presume wrong.

[tomatorich112]

I agree with improving insulation but new windows take decades to pay back..better to caulk existing windows. A stove gives you one very warm room...sadly I think this might be the future with energy prices as they are.

[bellac11]

'showy insta folk'

lol

No chips there!

[Rosser]

@Pizzadreams

Fine so you’re just a log burner enthusiast that has taken a dislike to me because I stated that a lot of showy people like to post online about their log burners 😂 Which they do on my Instagram but maybe you don’t know the same type of people I do?

I’ll bow out now as I’ve not insulted you personally and I would rather not focus on my insta comments but the idea that log burners are potentially dangerous. Which I do believe they are and you’ve not given me any evidence to suggest otherwise. Maybe I’m wrong but I’ll err on the side of caution.

[WoolyMammoth55]

OP I was pregnant when we were renovating our place and my GP friend BEGGED me not to get one. The research is really compelling about health damage - not great for the environment but VERY dangerous to people living in the home with the burner.

She described it to me as being the same level of danger as a diesel car idling in your living room.

Its particulate pollution, tiny particles that enter the bloodstream once inhaled and never leave the body - just build up and cause damage. They think it's one of the key causes of Alzheimers, also linked to several cancers.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/01/avoid-using-wood-burning-stoves-if-possible-warn-health-experts

Honestly, I understand they are cosy and lovely to have but if you have any dependents, either young or old, whose health might be affected by this, then I think it's a really bad idea.

[AnnaMagnani]

Gotta love the 'my grandchild has asthma and he's OK'

Children can't always tell you when their asthma is playing up.
By the time you can feel your asthma, there is already significant inflammation in your lungs.

I'm in the had no choice but a logburner group. I can manage my logburner with my asthma as we only ever burn briquettes on it, and it is our option of last resort for heating.

But if I walk into a house or pub with a woodburner in, the inhaler will be out within 10 minutes. Even just walking past someone's chimney can be enough.

[Rosser]

@bellac11

Showy insta folk. You know, like the people who share every single moment of their life on social media? Usually with a filter and a profound quote. Are you one?

Would you rather I called them influencers? I mean, I’m not going to say it to them IRL but this is an anonymous forum and we all know some ‘showy insta folk’ I’m sure there’s a lot of them on this thread. Some of my best friends are showy insta folk. It’s the world we live in. It breeds competition and debt IME.

Anyway, this bitter, twisted individual with chips on her shoulder just believes that log burners are bad for you! That’s all. I’ve not insulted anyone personally.

[flashbac]

@WoolyMammoth55

OP I was pregnant when we were renovating our place and my GP friend BEGGED me not to get one. The research is really compelling about health damage - not great for the environment but VERY dangerous to people living in the home with the burner.

She described it to me as being the same level of danger as a diesel car idling in your living room.

Its particulate pollution, tiny particles that enter the bloodstream once inhaled and never leave the body - just build up and cause damage. They think it's one of the key causes of Alzheimers, also linked to several cancers.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/01/avoid-using-wood-burning-stoves-if-possible-warn-health-experts

Honestly, I understand they are cosy and lovely to have but if you have any dependents, either young or old, whose health might be affected by this, then I think it's a really bad idea.

We have one that came with the house. It's a worry using it because of what I have read. The room is quite drafty though which I hope negates some of the damage. I'd rather not use it though. Don't like the way the air changes when it's on.

[bellac11]

I dont have social media, I dont have facebook, instagram anything

You really do have an issue with people that do though, dont you.

[Pizzadreams]

That’s just such a terrible article from th guardian. Why not link to a defra scientific paper? Wood burners overall pose a problem but thr new defra approved ones have so little particular dispersion that they already exceed the clean air strategy requirements, and when coupled with burning seasoned wood and smokeless fuel pose no signficant health risk and actually have less impact that electricity generation.

@Rosser, I’m not an “enthusiast” either and I don’t know you to like you or dislike you, I am simply pointing out you led with the issues you have with people having apparent wealth or use Instagram then segwayed into generic research on health issues . Yes older stoves, and wet wood or traditional coal do pose a significant risk. The new stoves, with dry wood/smokeless fuel simply do not. So it’s highly misleading to treat them all as one.

Yes they are expensive. Yes I’m sure many people do just shove them on insta or see them like a kitchen island, who cares, as long as it’s a new stove and the proper fuel. But many of us live rurally or like the op are concerned about fuel costs, so accurate answers really would help her rather than kicking off about wealthy people then posting generic warnings.

[lljkk]

Is coal still the best value, most heat generated for your money, per £ spent? I wanted to compost the ashes so we don't burn coal. Coal was much more cost effective when I last checked, anyway

[LubaLuca]

We had one installed about 20 years ago in a previous home, and I wouldn't bother again. The cons outweighed the pros by some way for us - very expensive to install and maintain, hassle and mess in the house, expensive fuel, health and safety worries, inconvenient in so many ways. It was pretty though.

[Jellykat]

I would advise anyone with a woodburner to buy a moisture meter to test your logs, they're a revelation!